So as I sit down to type this out I have one of my dogs chasing my pig around the couch, a dog begging to be let outside to get muddy yet again, a cat trying to Superman fly onto the pigs back, one cat boxing the pig & Soo is pouting at me like “why the hell did you bring all these animals into my home!?” Welcome to my crazy world! Just another lazy Saturday round here for us! Definitely taking advantage of the rainy day & laying around! It’s been a crazy chaotic week! In the past week I’ve taught a workshop, celebrated my nieces 15th birthday, booked a super rad September bride, & shot the birth of TWINS (more about them later!)!

Since my post on Facebook about teaching a private ShootLAB last weekend I’ve had a bunch of inquiries asking what the ShootLAB is & how they can host one themselves! I thought it would be easier to just to do a post on it versus trying to respond back to everyone! It’s a lil late going up than intended but better than never! :D

What is ShootLAB you might ask?

Well back when I worked a real world job at a college I taught Intro to Digital Photography for Continuing Education once a semester at night. But between working a full time job, shooting on weekends & after work, then teaching 2 nights a week, plus a bunch of other things…I quit doing it. I literally had NO LIFE & felt like I lived at the college!

But most in the area knew I had taught it & starting requesting private classes….again..no time for me to do that one on one with folks! Would love to but it’s too time consuming. So I decided to start offering workshops..hence what I title ShootLAB!

It’s an intro to digital photography workshop for those with DSLRs only (the ones where you take lenses on & off the front) where you learn all about the basics (ISO, Aperture, Shutter, Exposure, White Balance & much more). By the end of the day I have everyone shooting in Manual mode & NOT automatic! We go over the basics, break for lunch, head out to practice shooting, then come back in to go over a lil about Photoshop!

This is not a course for those who own point & shoot cameras. This is also not a class for current photography business owners. I’m very blunt when I say that if you’re already running a photography business & charging people..then you should already know how to do all the basics..if not shame on you for charging people. I shot for free for well over 2 years until I was comfortable enough with my camera before I started charging for services. It’s geared towards moms who want better pics of their kids or for people who bought/received a camera & aren’t quite sure how to use it or for those maybe thinking of *starting* a business.

In order to run a workshop I require at least 10 people to sign up just because I don’t have the time to run workshops on a weekly/monthly basis. If so then I’d take less people. I’ve had quite a few people ask me why I don’t host them at my house & take less people. To be honest, I like my privacy with certain things & my home is one of those places I like to keep private. I have animals & don’t want to stress them out with strangers in their environment, I don’t want to have to worry if someone has a cat or dog allergy, I don’t want to have to clean & worry about space for everyone to sit, etc. Not very professional having to pause every hour to let dogs out or to stop & walk the pig! Too much added stress! :D

A previous student & client of mine called & asked if I would be willing to host one at her home with a handful of friends. She really wanted to take it again but was tired of waiting for me to get enough people to sign up! I thought about it & told her sure with at least 5 people. So we did a private ShootLAB & it was awesome!

I don’t currently have a workshop date on the calendar! So if you don’t want to wait for 10 people to sign up for a workshop then you have the opportunity to host your very own private ShootLAB! All you need is at least 5 friends to sign up & you as the host will receive the workshop at no cost as a “thank you” gift for hosting in your home/space. I have very very limited weekend space available for the next few months as wedding season approaches so if you’re interested in a weekend space anytime soon now is the time to start putting one together! If not, it’ll be November/December before another weekend date will be available for a workshop! A weekday workshop is an option & offers more flexibility date wise!

If interested please email me at amy@stillframesphotography.com after you’ve talked to a few friends first!

Here are a few photos from last weekend’s ShootLAB! A very special THANK YOU to Liz for hosting at her house with the yummy lunch & to Melissa for bringing her lil one to “model” for us! It was freezing that day so she didn’t last too long but one of Liz’s daughters stepped in for her! :D And a huge THANK YOU to Sandy, Michele, Tonya, Hope & Summer for attending! Hope you girls had fun & I didn’t overload your brain that day!

Our lil model hamming it up!

We were out at the worse time of day for pics but they made it work!

Our next model who stepped in for us!

Back inside to warm up & work in Photoshop!

Again thank you girls for attending! Liz wants me to work on a Part II! :D

xoxo

amy